Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

Paws and Purpose, an animal shelter in Badlapur, Mumbai, runs this website. In this policy, "we", "us" and "our" mean Paws and Purpose; "you" means anyone visiting the site or contacting us.

For questions about this policy or your information, message us on WhatsApp.

2. What we collect

We only collect what we need to answer you, take a donation, or send you an update you asked for.

• Information you give us. Your name, email address, phone number and, if you ask for a receipt addressed to a company, a postal address. Also the reason for your message and anything you write in it, including photos you send us.
• Donation information. The amount, date and payment reference for a donation. Card, UPI and bank details are entered on the payment gateway's own secure pages. We never see or store them.
• Information collected automatically. Pages visited and basic device or browser information, if and when analytics is switched on. Analytics is not currently installed on this site.

We do not knowingly collect information from children under 18. We do not collect any information about your health, religion, caste or political views, and we do not ask for it.

3. Why we use it

• To reply to your enquiry or rescue report.
• To process a donation and issue your receipt.
• To send you the updates you asked for — you can stop these at any time.
• To keep proper accounts of the donations we receive.
• To understand which pages of the site are useful, once analytics is installed.

We do not sell, rent or trade your information, and we do not share it for anyone else's marketing.

4. Who we share it with

• Our payment gateway, to process your donation.
• Our email provider, to send receipts and updates.
• WhatsApp, when you send us a message through a form on this site: the form hands your message to WhatsApp and it reaches our own WhatsApp account, so Meta processes it under its own terms.
• Our accountant or auditor, where the law requires donation records to be checked.
• A government authority, if we are legally required to disclose something.

Everyone above receives only the minimum needed for their task.

5. How long we keep it

• Enquiries and rescue reports: two years.
• Donation and receipt records: eight years, as tax and accounting rules require.
• Newsletter and update subscriptions: until you unsubscribe, plus one month afterwards.

6. Your choices and rights

• Ask us what information we hold about you.
• Ask us to correct anything wrong.
• Ask us to delete what we are not legally required to keep.
• Unsubscribe from updates — every email will carry a one-click link.
• Complain to us first; we would rather fix it than have you escalate.

Message us on WhatsApp and we will respond within 30 days.

7. Cookies and analytics

This site currently sets no tracking cookies. If analytics is added later, this section will name the tool, say what it records, and provide an opt-out. Any change will be dated at the top of this page.

8. Photographs and consent

We publish photographs of animals, and sometimes of volunteers, adopters and supporters. We ask before publishing a photograph in which you are identifiable, and we take it down on request. Animals are photographed without flash distress and without publishing graphic suffering — including on this website.

9. Keeping your information safe

Access is limited to the few people who need it to do the work. Payment information never reaches us. No system is perfectly secure, so if a breach ever affects you, we will tell you directly and quickly.

10. Changes to this policy

If this policy changes materially, we will update the date at the top and note what changed. Continuing to use the site after that means you accept the updated version.